Trish's Cake
by BlairSpinX
Summary: Trish and Ari are in the kitchen preparing dinner when things take an unexpected turn.


"Ta da!" Trish's face beamed as she marveled at her work.

Ari stared with an almost forced smile as she thought of what to say to the blonde. She didn't want to hurt her feelings, but she knew she had to tell her the truth. This could easily be a life or death situation. Poor Dante...

"Um..."

"Wanna try some?" Trish lightly nudged the plate towards Ari, obviously oblivious to the borderline grimace on her face.

It was a quiet evening at the shop, and Dante and Vergil had gone out to take care of a job they got earlier that day. It had been a few hours since they left and during their absence Trish insisted that she and Ari tag-team dinner tonight.

Ari had previously taken on the mammoth task of showing her the ropes in order to transform her from being a water burner, to a pretty decent cook. They had been tackling this meal by meal, but the problem was Trish was all too eager to cook the more advanced foods rather than start small with something more on her current level of expertise...like toast.

Ari glanced uncomfortably out the kitchen window. She could see the sun setting behind the trees, casting shadows all along the ground and signaling the day's close. The boys would be back soon, she had to find a way to let Trish down easy so they could finish preparing dinner before they got back.

After much persistence, Ari had given in and allowed Trish to try her hand at frying some of the chicken tenders. Despite her guidance, Trish somehow managed to still not get it quite right. But Ari kind of expected it, especially after she witnessed Trish dump the poultry into the much-too-hot oil. By that time, the poor meat was beyond saving.

Ari twisted her mouth to the side and blinked, "No thanks. But i'll tell you what, how about you ice the cake and _i'll_ finish up the tenders..."

Trish looked puzzled, she had no idea what Ari meant, "But they're all done, see?"

Ari shook her head, "No Trisha, they're not..."

Trish studied the plate in front of her. She glanced back and forth between the chicken and the box of flour. Surely they had that brown crispy skin, just like on the box, they looked almost identical. How were they not done yet?

"What did I do wrong?" Trish asked.

"The inside is still pink Trish."

Trish blinked, "Is that bad?"

"That means they're raw girly." Ari shook her head as a small smile graced her lips. She couldn't help but be amused at her friend's naivety. She had so much to learn.

Trish's face twisted into an expression of disgust as Ari took the plate from her hands, setting it on the counter before cutting into a piece to let her see.

"I don't get it! How was I supposed to see that _under_ the skin?" Trish threw her arms in the air, "This cooking thing is so confusing..."

"You have to fry chicken slowly. The grease can't be too hot or it will cook the outside faster than the inside." Ari explained.

Trish nodded and closed her eyes, heaving a sigh, "Well i'll keep that in mind for next time then."

Ari giggled, "Don't feel bad. Chicken can be tricky. I'll take care of the rest of this." Ari picked up a cake spatula and handed it to Trish with a lopsided grin.

"Alright." Trish huffed as she crossed to the other side of Ari, lifting the cakeplate lid to reveal the warm lemon cake. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the sweet aroma, "At least I did the cake right this time. Dante didn't really like the one I made by myself the other day. I still don't know why though..."

"Trish, the cake was brown..."Ari replied.

"Yeah? Chocolate cake _is_ brown."

"It was supposed to be a yellow cake." Ari smirked at the memory, holding back a laugh. Seeing Dante's face after taking a bite of Trish's "chocolate" cake had her rolling around in tears that day. So much so, Vergil had to carry her off to their room because she was too weak from laughter to even walk.

"Same difference." Trish waved her hand dismissively, "What are we drinking?"

"I don't know, you have anything in mind?" Ari began carefully rolling a fresh piece of chicken breast in flour and placed it into the pot of, now properly heated, oil on the stove with a satisfying sizzle.

"How about Margaritas?" Trish offered.

Ari was thoughtful for a moment, "With chicken and fries?"

"Sure, why not? Trish shrugged before sneaking a bit of icing on her finger for a quick taste.

"I don't know, I feel like wine goes better."

"You feel wine goes better with _any_ meal Ari..."

Ari's jaw dropped and she glanced over at her accuser, "Do _not_. Sheesh, you're making me sound like some kind of alcoholic."

"I'm just saying." Trish smirked, taking a defensive posture before returning to her task.

"I'll have you know, that the wine I drink most of the time doesn't have alcohol in it." Ari began removing chicken from the oil, plcing them on a plate with paper towel to drain.

"Is that even _wine_?" Trish mused.

"Uh, yeah. The bottle says so."

"Sure chick-a-dee, whatever you say." Trish shook her head.

Ari narrowed her eyes at Trish in mock annoyance before hearing a loud bang from somewhere in the shop. The women started at the sudden noise and exchanged a quick glance before dropping everything to go investigate. They could faintly hear the sound of metal and signs of struggling from somewhere outside the house.

They looked around the main area, and Trish noticed a sand trail leading from the window all the way to the back under the stairs. Narrowing her eyes, she suddenly felt a dark presence. Turning back to the kitchen archway, she caught sight of the invader.

Ari's lip curled in disgust at the monster that limped its way toward them, dragging its long limbs. The creature looked paler that death itself and it towered at an impressive height. Its red eyes held malicious intent as a deep growl emerged from its throat.

"An uninvited dinner guest it seems." Trish smirked.

"No kidding." Ari looked at the blonde, giving her a nod before they ran in opposite directions.

The creature screeched a horrible sound as it lunged forward, spewing a sand-like substance from its mouth. Trish kicked up a long slender leg, effectively knocking one of Dante's swords from the wall and into her hands. Glancing over at Ari, she saw her roll out of the way of the creature's claws as it swung in attempt to grab her.

Ari dove behind Dante's desk, grabbing the hidden Glock from the underside. By the time she emerged again, she saw the monster turn its attention to Trish, who wasted no time lunging for an attack. She effectively slashed it, this way and that, spewing more of the sand-like substance with each connection.

Dashing towards the monster's back, Ari went for a roundhouse kick, knocking it forward on its face. Trish rushed forward and stabbed her blade into the creature pinning it to the floor as Ari began unloading her clip into the back of its head. The women coughed as the dust the creature oozed polluted the air around them. Ari kept shooting until the thing stopped screaming.

The monster now only twitched lightly, still showing faint signs of life. Trish lifted her leg, effectively digging her heel into its head and ceasing all movement before it finally exploded into a dramatic cloud of dust. Ari waved her hand to try and clear the air that was nearly choking her when she saw a shadow approaching Trish from behind.

"Trish...look...out!" she choked out as she took aim.

Trish cartwheeled, evading the approaching figure and Ari unloaded again. The target dodged the bullets desperately, running and rolling around the office to before diving under the stairs and calling out.

"Hey, hey! It's me! It's _me_!"

Ari lifted an eyebrow, blinking and rubbing at one of her eyes as she recognized the voice. Lowering her gun, she sighed.

"Figures. Dante, didn't we ask you and Vergil to leave work _outside_ the house?"

"This one was a crafty little bastard. Sorry about that babes." Dante came into focus as the last of the dust dissipated. He stepped forward, pulling his blade from the pile of sandy remains.

Trish put her hands on her hips and huffed as Dante gave an uneasy smile.

"Seems like you girls got it handled though. I'm starving, what's for dinner? Smells good in here..." He placed the sword back in its place before going to lean against his desk.

" _You're_ cleaning this up." Trish pushed his chest as she passed by him, heading back to the kitchen.

"Aw c'mon!"

"And Vergil can help you. Maybe _next_ time you'll both be more careful to keep these things in in check." Ari kicked at the sand with a disgusted look, "Where is he anyway?"

"I don't know, he was right behind me..."Dante's voice trailed as he looked around.

"Vergil!" Trish's voice rang out from the kitchen, "Out!"

Ari and Dante looked towards the kitchen as Vergil strode out, a slight look of displeasure marring his features. Ari put a hand on her hip and lifted a brow, motioning to the mess around them. Vergil came to a stop in front of her, gazing down at her before slowly taking note of the mess.

"Hm." he hummed.

"Have fun cleaning up this mess." Ari replied.

"Why am I being tasked with this? I did not make this mess woman." Vergil kicked at a pile of sand next to his foot.

"This mess wouldn't be here if you had left work outside like we asked, _man_."

Vergil opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again as Trish stormed back into the room, glaring daggers at him. He lifted a brow at the anger directed at him.

"He cut my cake! I wasn't done icing it, now it's ruined!" A disgruntled Trish stomped her foot with her fists balled up by her sides.

"Ooooh." Dante scratched at his stubble.

Ari cut her eyes up at the man towering over her, "Really Vergil...?"

"I'm hungry. It has been quite a long day." Vergil stated before giving Ari a quick peck on the cheek, "My apologies."

"Yeah well, next time you better keep your hands off my cake!" Trish growled after Vergil as he headed for the stairs.

" _You_ made that?" Vergil inquired, suddenly stopping on the stairs.

"Yes." Trish stated with a sense of accomplishment.

Vergil's eyes slid over to Ari before looking back at Trish. Trish shifted her weight and crossed her arms, surely she didn't appreciate his doubtful look at the moment, _especially_ since he just nibbled off of her work.

"Yeah okay, she helped me but I did _most_ of the work! Tell him." Trish nudged Ari.

It was true. Ari had guided Trish through the process without doing much of any of the physical work for it. She had decided to let Trish take the reigns instead of doing it for her as she merely spectated. She was proud of Trish and how well she followed directions and the end result was indeed something to show for it.

"Yep, it's true. I only told her what to do. She actually made it." Ari agreed with a smile.

"Hm." Vergil replied, "Well it was quite good."

Trish was slightly taken aback at the unexpected compliment. She didn't get them much in regards to her cooking.

"Thanks." She grumbled.

Dante suddenly emerged from the kitchen with a piece of chicken in his hand. He took a big bite before spitting it to the floor.

"Ah!" his face was in a tight grimace as he analyzed the offending piece of food.

"Dante!" Ari snapped.

"Whats _wrong_ with this chicken?"

"It's _raw_. Why did you do that?!"

"Raw!? Ugh!" Dante dropped the chicken, wiping his hands on his coat.

Trish pursed her lips, before walking up and grabbing his ear, giving him a good yank as he cried out.

"Stay _out_ of the kitchen while we're cooking!" she hissed through her teeth.

"Okay, okay! Leggo, that _hurts_!" Dante growled.

Trish pulled his ear to and fro, "Well, you'll remember this next time you go snooping around before dinner's ready now won't you?"

Dante clenched his jaw and frowned as Trish ceased her discipline, letting go of his, now red, ear. He glanced up at Vergil who only scoffed and resumed his trek up the stairs. Glaring at Trish, then at Ari and back at Trish, he continued to stare as they turned to go back to the kitchen.

"Women..." Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, "Can I have a piece of cake?" he paused and waited for a response.

"No!" The girls' voices rang out and he frowned.

"But Vergil had some!"

To his displeasure, he was met with silence and mumbled under his breath as he looked down at the floor. He suddenly lifted an eyebrow when his eyes locked onto something that distracted him from his pouting. Tilting his head slightly, he examined the pile of dust that almost looked like a sunken face twisted into a smile.

"What are _you_ laughing at?" He twirled Ebony and took aim, sending a bullet flying into the debris and effectively dissipating it before turning and walking up the stairs.

 **Poor Dante. Thanks for reading. ~Blair**


End file.
